10 May
2005 23:00GMT.
Updated: 13 May 2005 18:00
_________________________U.S.
court dismisses Cheney energy task force case 10 May 2005 2:56
PM ET--A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit that sought
details about Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney's 2001 energy policy
task force that critics say secretly formed policy favorable to the
industry.
The unanimous ruling ordered a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit
by the Sierra Club environmental group and the watchdog group Judicial
Watch that sought to learn about contacts between task force members
and industry executives.
"We hold that plaintiffs have failed to establish any duty, let
alone a clear and indisputable duty, owed to them by the federal government"
under the law in question, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Judge
A. Raymond Randolph wrote in the 13-page ruling.
_________________________
Hmmmm...

Judge
A. Raymond Randolph - eh?
Let's look him up. Appointed by George H. W. Bush in 1990. Pal of Microsoft
in the celebrated anti-trust case of 2001.Judges
poised to rule on Microsoft 31 May, 2001, 22:10 GMT 23:10 UK
--Microsoft's fate hangs in the balance as a Court of Appeal considers
whether to overturn the break-up order. A ruling is thought to be imminent
and BBC News Online's Kevin Anderson in Washington takes a look at the
judges making the decision...
In 1998, two judges on the appeals court ruled that Microsoft did not
violate a consent decree when it bundled its Internet Explorer web browser
with Windows. In that case, Judge Stephen Williams, appointed by Ronald
Reagan in 1986, and Judge Raymond Randolph, appointed by George [H.W.]
Bush in 1990, ruled that Microsoft did not illegally "tie" the browser
to its market-dominant operating system.

George
Mason University, Law and Economics Center has received $115,000
from ExxonMobil since 1998. Say Hey! Its good being a judge!

Additional
source: Antitrust
Law & Economics Review Vol. 25, No. 2, Judicial Seminars:
Economics, Academia, and Corporate Money In America --by Nan Aron, Barbara
Moulton, and Chris Owens '6 Mornings Per Week' "Although
closely affiliated with GMU [George Mason University], the Law and Economics
Center is run independently and is supported entirely by private donations.
Corporate interests provide a significant share of the Center's funding.
In 1991, for example, when the Center spent $380,000 in 'direct' expenses
for federal judges' seminars, 31% of the Center's total income of $967,917
came from corporate contributors. These donors included corporate giants
Exxon, General Motors, Bethlehem Steel, ITT, and Pfizer, Inc., the General
Electric and Mobil Foundations, and the Monsanto Fund. Most of the remainder
of the Center's 1991 budget (65%) came from independent foundations,
including Olin, Bradley, and Scaife, which have been key players in
efforts to mold a jurisprudence more favorable to business interests.
The Center's basic 'economics institute' for federal judges is held
once a year, spans a two-week period and is designed to familiarize
participants with the fundamental tools of microeconomic theory."
[Note: See original article for footnotes/references within '6 Mornings
Per Week.']